Don't judge the $22.5 million, geometrically intriguing Orland Park Public Library only from its exterior.

"What you see on the outside is the tip of the iceberg," said Michael Wessman, senior project manager for Chicago's W.E. O'Neil Construction Co., the general contractor for the 85,000-sq.-ft., two-story facility at 149th Street and Ravinia Avenue in the southern Chicago suburb.

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"The geometry of it is unique - there's a sweeping elevation of glass on the west elevation and a clerestory area on the roof that gives an open feeling and a wonderful sense of space. But you don't see the tricky stuff the trades had to go through. It took close coordination on the outer structure and also on the inside of the building to run the systems that are hidden from view."

Project History

Work began six years ago, when the library board started a planning process to solve space problems of the existing 25,000-sq.-ft. library on Park Lane.

"The first section of the old library was built in the mid-1970s, the first addition came in the early 1980s and the second addition came in 1992," said Sharon Wsol, library director. "Within five years, the booming growth of the Orland Park community made it apparent that more space was necessary."

During community focus group sessions, "we asked people what they expected from the library, what they liked and disliked and what they wanted more of," Wsol added. After the sessions, the board developed a tentative plan for a new facility and hired a consultant to write a building program.

"We knew immediately that our current building wouldn't work," she said. "So while we were working on the building program, we began a discussion with the Village Board about the property on Ravinia Avenue. We also conducted a site study of other properties in the village."

After evaluating each site's accessibility, visibility, location, environmental features and hazards, the Library Board chose Ravinia for its new facility.
"The Village Board agreed to swap the Ravinia Avenue property for the Park Lane Library and property if we successfully passed a bond issue referendum for funding," Wsol said.

In 2001, the Library Board hired Chicago-based Lohan Anderson Architects - then Lohan Associates - Owner Services Group, Inc. of Lombard, Ill., as the owner representative and Ehlers & Associates of Lisle, Ill., as the financial consultant to plan construction and operational costs.

"We took the plan to referendum in March 2002 and won by almost a 2-1 margin," Wsol recalled. The $20 million bond issue was supplemented with $2 million in library reserves and $500,000 from other sources.

Wsol said a "competitive prequalification process" for a general contractor began in January 2003. Of the 12 to 13 firms that submitted statements of qualifications, eight were interviewed and five were asked to bid.

W.E. O'Neil, a company that had worked on the Evanston Public Library and the DePaul University Library, placed the winning bid and began clearing the site that May. Construction started later that month with excavation of the 9,500-sq.-ft. basement.

Design Dilemmas

The aesthetics that make the library special also made it complicated to complete.

"One of the unique characteristics of the building is the interface of multiple materials - concrete, steel, glass, timber and aluminum panels," O'Neil's Wessman added.

The building's frame is structural concrete clad with masonry brick and block, and the exterior is further enhanced with aluminum framing and glass curtain wall.

The roof's design varies by section: One area is structural concrete topped by thermoplastic membrane roofing, while timber framing supports the same material in the clerestory area.

"The north face of the clerestory truss framing also has aluminum and glass curtain wall, which allows natural daylight into the collection area on the second floor," Wessman said.

The structure is enhanced with a rain screen wall, a way of waterproofing the structure, rather than stopping all water at the outside wall, said Floyd Anderson, principal of Lohan.

"There is space behind the brick that's at the same air pressure as the outside," he added. "If water gets into the space, it hits a water vapor area, drips down and goes out through a weep, a hole at the bottom of the brick mortar."

Dealing with Constrained Space

Contractors had to work within a tight space.

"We only had 2 ft. above the ceiling for all the supply ductwork, plumbing, electrical work and fireproofing," Wessman said. "Without a lot of planning and close coordination, we would have had to grow the space."

The team created mechanical, electrical and piping overlay drawings of the space during a series of meetings to anticipate potential conflicts, Wessman said.

Enlightening Issues

The library's lighting is aimed at providing aesthetic quality and energy efficiency.

"The lights tie into the geometry of the space," said Michael Barnes, Lohan project designer. This includes saw tooth light monitors over the second floor reading area, which faces a retention pond and the woods beyond.

The lighting throughout the library features energy-efficient fixtures with fluorescent lamps. Occupancy sensors are installed in some areas, such as washrooms.

Light fixtures are attached to book stacks over each aisle between the book stacks, which run east to west to allow more natural light into the building.
"With the clerestory window facing north, there is a lot of ambient northern light, which greatly reduced the need for electric lighting on the second floor," Barnes added.

Heating elements are placed for ambience and energy efficiency. In the seating areas surrounded by picture windows, radiant heating units are embedded into the floor.

Since the library will be a high-traffic space, floors are covered with carpet tile, which "lends itself to spot repair or replacement," Wessman said. "It's easy to pull up a carpet tile if there's a nasty snag or a bad stain. And the library can keep stock on hand for quick fixes."

In spite of its scope, the project wrapped up on time and on budget. The substantial completion was July 15, and library staff spent the first week of August moving into the facility.

A grand opening celebration was held in September.